Day 15, Tuesday, February 27, 2007

After a short day of travel most of us took a walking tour of Los Alamos. This is an old silver and gold mining town and we are standing in front of an old chapel. We had a tour guide that explained the history of the town and it was most interesting.

This is the alter of the chapel. Like everything else in Mexico, what you see outside does not indicate what you will find inside, as is evidenced by the beautiful courtyards behind tall walls.

Here is just one such courtyard.

The bougainvillea was just lovely hanging over the many walls.

After the tour we all came back and fixed a dinner of things that could not be taken back over the border into the USA. I'm sure there were some strange combinations.

Day 14, Monday, February 26, 2007

Travel day for us today leaving about 8 am and we once again crossed over the Tropic of Cancer. Of course, this time was going in the opposite direction. We had traveled this road 4 days ago when we headed down to Mazatlan so the sights were familiar but still very interesting. Especially the farming going on in the area and the harvesting. We got through our first inspection, this one for agriculture. None of us was stopped nor boarded for a search. Great!

Bragging Rights !

Four men from the group went out fishing and Cliff caught the catch of the day. Only some of the fish was taken home and the rest was given to the crew.

We finished off the day with a pot luck dinner. How a group can get together such an array of food on short order is beyond me, and all of it great!

We'll leave in the morning about 8:30 am and head to Los Alamos, a new place to visit. Maybe there will be vendors there???

Day 13, Sunday, February 25, 2007

A number of folks went out on this boat to Stone Island on a tour. It included a bouncy ride in the Sea of Cortez to see some "pirate" caves on two of the islands and then a very small island with some sea lions resting. The sea lions come here in the winter from North America and Canada waters to have their babies. It was quite windy and therefore chilly.
















The Holland America ship Ryndam was in port and was expected to leave at 5 p.m. tonight. It is a small ship in comparison to the mega ships that they are building today but made our little vessel seem very small indeed.

Some went horseback riding, others snorkeled or took a banana boat ride to view the turtles, or a horse drawn carriage ride. All this was include in the tour price of $20 per person. Very reasonable.

We are all back now and getting our coach's ready for travel in the morning. We will be heading out about 7 a.m. and it will be a long drive back to Los Mochis where we will gather for a pot luck dinner.

Day 12, Saturday, February 24, 2007

Today was a free day and some of the group went off in a little rental car like this one and toured the area. Others watched their rigs being washed and waxed and others just rested.

Some walked the beach, others watched the beach walkers!

The evening was a Fiesta at the Hotel Playa. All the food and drink and a show, such a deal!

We have started a second photo album which can be found at www.picasaweb.google.com/mimmexico/mexicocaravanII

Please visit it often as it is updated daily.

Day 11, Friday, February 23, 2007

This morning we all took a bus tour of Mazatlan after a buffet breakfast on the beach at the Hotel Playa Mazatlan, the same hotel that we had dinner at last night.

The tour took us all along the beach front and to the area where the local fishermen drive their boats up on shore and then sell their fish. You can see the many pelicans looking for a handout. Many of us bought jumbo shrimp from a local that brings it right into the park daily. If you go down to buy fish it is the catch of the day and it varies but we never were told just what they do catch in the area.

Mazatlan is also noted for it's cliff divers. We were able to watch as a few jumped off into the pounding surf. Nothing any of us wanted to do, even feet first.

There is a lot of new growth and condos along the beach area. In fact, one of the few RV parks has been sold and a Costco is going in it's place.

We shopped in a local grocery store that carried many of Costco's brands so they are already heavy in the area.

We toured the old town market and this is just one of the many stalls that we found. This is the way most of the people in the area shop, just like big cities of old. I was really impressed with how high some could stack their wares.

Thursday, Day 10, February 22

We have arrived in Maztalan! This is our first look at the Sea of Cortez. And that is from some distance, but you can see the waves, a little.













We are parked in an old coconut grove that was turned into an RV Park about 30 years ago. As you can see, the trees are still here and the spaces are very small. This is a 42 foot coach being parked in a 34 foot space. And not a scratch on the coach or those around it. But it did take some good maneuvering.









Dinner was at the Hotel Playa, Mazatlan, on the beach overlooking a beautiful sunset and a cruse liner going out to it's next port. We are all tired and have headed back to our coach's for a good nights rest for another full day tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow.

Wednesday, Day 9, February 21, 2007

After overnight in a no frills rail yard it was time to begin the unloading process. The flatcars were brought to the unloading dock and the rails that they had put on the sides of the cars so that we could walk around were first removed. The ramps were added between the cars and the unloading began. You really had to trust the man leading you over the ramps and down the flatcar. You had only inches on one side of the coach before you would drive off the side.

We drove about 10 minutes to a campground where we rested up before being taken to dinner at a hotel in town. This had to be the best shrimp that I have ever had, and quite a few others voiced the same opinion. As downtown is also the "market" area a few ventured out to see what was available. Not much for us as either we didn't recognise it and couldn't read it in Spanish or had no place to put it. After dinner we all came back full and sleepy and all went to bed early as we'll have to be up early in the morning for our briefing and then we will hit the road for a 254 mile drive down to Mazatlan where we will camp for a few days. See you down the road.

Tuesday, February 20, 2007, Day 8

Today was an early start at 7 a.m. and we traveled down to 100 feet above sea level. This is a picture of one of the cut backs with a waterfall in the background. There were so many tunnels and one was over 1 mile long and had no lights inside at all. Occasionally one of us would turn on headlights but the light didn't travel very far. Many of us were outside sitting in our lawn chairs to enjoy the views. It was cold when we left but warmed up as we got to lower elevations.

Snow yesterday and the tropics today. The hillsides were covered in beautiful flowering trees. We say all sorts of fruits growing in the valleys. When we made it to just outside Los Mochis it was all farm land as far as the eye could see and all growing in various stages. Corn, tomatoes, beans/peas, peppers and many things we didn't recognise from the train.

Arnold and JJ enjoying the ride outside their coach. This picture was taken by one of the security guards that are riding the train with us, they move freely between cars but we all just hang on and stay on our own cars until we are stopped. Notice how close to the edge the drivers side is. This is the was of all the coaches. We must also have our steps retracted when the doors are not open so that the guards can walk by.

Tonight we are on the rails for the last night. We have been parked on a siding and will be moved into positions for driving off in the morning at 7 a.m. Already we can hear train cars being moved about and engines going back and forth, this will not be a quiet night for sure. We have a short drive to our next stop, an RV park for a night, then down the road to Mazatlan.

Monday, Day 7

This morning was started with an early breakfast at the hotel. The usual American fare as well as Mexican. Very good and enough to last us through the day. We left the land of the Tarahumara Indians and the selling of their wares. These are a very shy and unasuming tribe of peoples. We never did see any of the men, at least, we don't think we did. Todays trip was a bit more "rocking" than we've had so far as we traveled over bridges and through tunnels.

This was the color of the sky this morning when we got up so we were not surprised to see some snow and as we rode down into the valley it turned to rain. The sky this evening was also red so we are hoping for fair sky's tomorrow. It should be dry as we will be traveling across the desert.

Today we also crossed the La Laja Bridge at an altitude of 6,750 feet. You can even see the tunnel that we had just exited before crossing over a deep gorge.

We ended up our day in a little town called Bahuichivo and we are overnighting on a side railing. Most of our coaches have high rock walls on either side of them so we will really hear the trains tonight as they pass. The town is up a very high hill so most of us decided not to do the climb. There are no restaurants in town so we all ate in our rigs.

Sunday, Day 6, February 18, 2007

We left the town of Creel about 9 am and headed to the Canyon, Divisadero. About 11 am we got our first glimpse of the Copper Canyon. Our tour guide was here, having driven up in a bus, to take us on a tour of the area and to visit interesting sites and explain the area history. The Canyon is formed from volcanoes and earthquakes, millions upon millions of years ago. This area is home to the many Tarahumara Indians. The woman carry their baskets and woven scarfs up from the canyon floor to sell to the tourists.

The baskets are made from grasses found in the region. Their method of weaving is unique and much sort after by museums. At the canyon floor you will find an almost tropic climate and this is where they spend their winters eating the mangoes and avocados and citrus fruits found there. The men do the wood carvings although we have yet to see an Indian man. They are very shy and tend to stay away letting the woman do all the selling, and the work.

The children learn at a very early age how to beg. They are all over trying to sell the baskets that their mothers have made and have even learned how to make a "photo" opt. This little girl made a haul when she walked over to our group with a baby goat in her arms and posed for pictures. Everyone gave her some pesos and she was very happy.

The area has well adapted itself for tourism, this is an airfield on the top of the Canyon rim for small craft to fly in rich tourists. The train runs two passenger trains, one for tourists and one for the Mexicans. You can guess how different they look as the Mexicans are know to even bring along livestock.

We crossed the Continental Divide, again, and reached the highest point on the line, altitude 8,071 feet.

Saturday, Day 5

Our day started very early this morning when our two engines arrived at 6 a.m. to start moving us around to make one long train. We left the yard at 7:27 a.m.. The hooking up went much smoother than we expected, very gentle. With a little steam we were off and watching the countryside change as it went by.

We saw streams, canyons, mountains and plains and we all took lots of pictures of ourselves as we rounded curves, first one way and then the other. We did go through the second largest tunnel on the trip today and it was almost one mile long. It had no lights inside and it was so dark you could not see your hand in front of your face.

After being dropped at a side track in the town of Creel we took a tour of the mouth of the Copper Canyon and visited the cave of a Tarahumara Indian family. The man in the center is Edwardo, our guide. This family lives in this cave year round and there is a large opening up in the roof. They have lived this way for centuries.

The day was finished with dinner at the Best Western Hotel in town and then it was back to our coaches to get ready for the next day. So our ladders are up and we are ready.

Friday, Day 4, February 16, 2007

Today was the day. Train day. But first, we spent the night in Mennonite country. Now this is apple country. Along the road we saw these strange tepee type "things" and found out later what they were used for. This area has a lot of spring storms and to protect the apples from HAIL they cover them with this netting. Most of the fields have these tied up nets.

This is our Wagon masters coach being the first loaded onto the rail cars. We took about 3 hours to load 22 coach's onto 22 flatcars. Driving the rigs onto each flatcar is by ramps between the cars and they are not secured all that well. There is a "train person" that guides you as you cross the ramps and keeps you extremely close to the left side so that you will have room enough to exit your coach on the passenger side, where the rail is.

There were three lines of flatcars that we loaded one by one. As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words so don't forget to visit our web album at www.picasaweb.google.com/mimmexico/MexicoCaravan.

Just click on the above link and it will take you there where you can enjoy our journey.

Thursday, Day 3

This morning we went by bus to downtown Chihuahua City and the home of Poncho Villa, the state capital building and the home of the Governor. We were impressed with how clean the city was and all the little parks located throughout the city. We went in a couple of shops but did little shopping. Most of the homes here have stone or concrete walls around them but behind the walls and in the middle of their homes they have beautiful courtyards, some with fruit trees.

Chihuahua means sandy and dry. And yes, the little dogs of the same name are named after the city. In fact, they have a parade and dress the dogs up. They also have many little statues that are decorated around the main square in town.

After traveling about 65 miles we are camped in a RV Park in a Mennonite community. They had dinner for us and entertainment and the park owner gave us a brief history of his people and community. Now we are all busy getting our rigs ready to be loaded onto the trains in the morning. We are also expecting freezing weather tonight so we are preparing for that too.

Wednesday evening, still Day 2

After getting set up at our campground we went by bus to a Mexican restaurant in town where they were expecting us. We were greeted with margaritas. There was entertainment of dancers with their history and culture.

Each group of dancers represented a different culture.

Wednesday, Day 2

We left camp at 6:20am to cross the border into Mexico. The crossing was totally uneventful due to the pre-planning and registering of our rigs and selves by our wagonmasters and tailgunners. We paid our $50 import fee and we were on our way.

Juarez, Mexico was still just coming to life and most of the traffic was in the other direction and all of the shops were still closed. But as we drove through some of the smaller towns the food vendors were all hoping that we would pull in for lunch.

Lunch was a 30 minute break at a rest stop along the highway, after which we got the rest of our directions to our evening campground

The houses in Chihuahua were very colorful. Maybe this makes up for the closeness of the homes.

We'll be going out to dinner and then a show tonight and then there is a tour in the morning.